Wizardry II - The Knight of Diamonds
Platform: Commodore 64
Gametype: Undefined
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The sequel to the original Wizardry follows the defeat of the evil Werdna and the return of Mad Overlord Trebor's amulet. The heroes who had accomplished that were inducted into Trebor's personal honor guard. Unfortunately this particular honor didn't last very long as Trebor's madness and obsession with the amulet and preventing Werdna's return drove him to suicide.

With both Trebor and Werdna dead all seemed well within the kingdom of Llylgamyn. Unfortunately, this peace didn't last very long. With Werdna dead and out of the limelight, an evil knight named Davalpus felt it was time to make his move. He stormed the castle, slaughtered the royal family, and declared himself supreme dictator for life. The Prince of the land fought and killed Davalpus using the legendary Staff of Gnilda and wearing the armor of the Knight of Diamonds. However, the god Gnilda took the staff back and placed it deep within his heavily guarded six-level temple. Since the staff's power protects the land from invasion by hostile outlanders, someone will need to venture into the temple and get it back along with Gnilda's blessing. 

Knight of Diamonds uses the same basic engine and graphics as its predecessor. The player creates a party of up to six characters from a choice of fantasy races and classes, and takes it to explore a large maze-like dungeon, fighting random enemies in turn-based first-person perspective combat. The player has the option of transferring characters from the previous installment, or (in a later version of the game) generating new characters from scratch. 

As opposed to the predecessor, it is possible to save the game in the dungeon. Also, unlike the first game, all the six levels of the dungeon must be explored. Each level contains a piece of the armor of the Knight of Diamonds, assembling which is essential for completing the game.

Trivia
Early versions of this game did not have a character creation process; rather, you had to import your characters from Wizardry I. While a neat idea that contributed to the flow of the storyline, apparently consumer demand won out in the end since later versions came with both a pre-made party and the ability to create new characters from scratch. (To this day I still remember the notice on the box that stated that you had to have the first game in the series in order to play this one... and I still wonder, "What were they thinking?")

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Description from the packaging:

Requires characters developed in Proving Grounds of The Mad Overlord.
Venture now into another mysterious maze, full of danger for the unwary adventurer. Knight of Diamonds is a scenario for experienced Wizardry players. Your characters will have to be 13th level just to survive! Will you be the first to become the Knight of Diamonds?

Six level 3D maze.
For ages 10 to adult.
From 1 to 6 players.
Maze and monsters in high resolution graphics.
Designed for 13th level characters and above.
The first scenario, Proving Grounds of The Mad Overlord, received race reviews:
"This new game may open up a whole new realm of programming." - Neil Shapiro, Popular Mechanics.
"The most eagerly awaited adventure... It more than lived up to arcader's hopes..." - Computer Merchandising.

"Fluid 3D graphics rather than the static style." - Roe Adams, Instant Replay.
"Wizardry is a class game in my book." - John Martellaro, Peelings II.
The second scenario, Knight of Diamonds, is even better. This is the true thinking person's game.
Important.
Knight of Diamonds is a scenario for experienced players, and requires characters developed in the first Wizardry scenario, Proving Grounds of The Mad Overlord.


http://www.mobygames.com/game/c64/wizardry-knight-of-diamonds-the-second-scenario
